Greenpeace

Hey all, Alex from the Greenpeace Activist Network here...

Just thought I would give a quick shout out to all of the Lead Activists in the Network and honor them by blogging about how awesome it has been to work with you all! I have been doing a fellowship with the network for the last 4 or 5 months now, recruiting, coaching, and driving campaign tactics with our network of over 900 amazing volunteers across the country, and may I just say, what an amazing group of people!

These are folks who have day to day lives, like the rest of us, but decided somewhere, sometime that on top of that, they were going to go out, on their free time, and organize their community around all of our issues. How totally awesome is that?! The best thing about it is that we have people setting seemingly wild goals on their own, and then smashing them! I mean, we are talking like 900+ hand written letters to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to stop the BP Liberty Drilling project gathered by one person. Scratch that, we had multiple Lead activists break that! Last count we had over 3,800 letters sent to the Secretary of the Interior. I am just glad that my Fellowship is with Greenpeace, and not the White House! Could you imagine? "Good morning Alex." "Good morning Ken, we have another burlap sack of hand-written letters from people upset about the BP project..."

Yesss!

Anyhow, it doesn't stop with letters. We have launched our Stop the Dirty Energy Money tactic with our Lead Activists and I am pleased to say, that this tactic is RAD. Now that elections are over, we can start to really pressure these folks! Let's show them that enough is enough. No more bribes from the oil and coal industries to fund climate denial, and a climate policy that includes oil spills, toxic sludge in our rivers, poor air quality, and the destruction of our mountains for profit!

If you are ready to take action as a volunteer, and help us win our campaigns, spread activism, and rouse your community with simple, creative, and powerful tactics, then check out the Activist Network by going here.

Also, check out the brand new version of the Rainbow Warrior, the Activist Network Newsletter, to see some awesome stories of Lead Activists across the country, here!

For the Walrus,

Alex Holmes, signing off.

What do all of these beautiful images have in common?

 
They are all pictures from the Beaufort Sea near Prudhoe Bay, off of the Arctic coast of Alaska. This is a blue, pristine environment, a bio-diverse and untamed wilderness. The large Mackenzie River empties into the sea as do other smaller rivers feeding its fish and larger species nutrient rich water. It is an important habitat for Bow-head whales, Beluga whales, Ringed seals and a multitude of sea birds and is still relatively untouched by commercial traffic. The shoreline of the Beaufort Sea is the northern limit of the terrestrial range of the Polar bear in North America.

Perhaps this is why BP has decided to start their next drilling project about 5 miles offshore. Or perhaps it is because the sea ice is frozen for more than three-fourths of the year. Even during the summer, when the sea ice has melted or thinned, icebreakers must often accompany ships through the passage. Apparently BP’s ideal conditions to “drill baby, drill!”
Which is exactly what the London based company intends to do. Not one mile down, in tropic waters. That’s too easy! BP plans to drill two miles down into the sea bed, and the six to eight miles sideways to gain access to an oil reserve in Federal waters.

To their credit, it takes a huge amount of gall to do what they are trying to pull off. Not necessarily because it is admittedly BP’s “largest challenge to date”  in what the company itself claims is “some of the harshest weather on Earth”, but because they are doing this so blatantly, and boastfully, and so “legally”. BP plans to moveforward with this as soon as this fall.

“Wait just one minute, Alex! That’s not legal!! There is a six month moratorium on all new offshore drilling projects. This can’t be possible.”

Thank you for the well-timed interjection, alter-ego-super-environmentalist! In fact, it brings me to my next point. BP has skirted around the Federally implemented moratorium on offshore drilling by creating a gravel island that they will be drilling from. I will now take this time to announce the name of their project : “Liberty!”. Well, who am I to stop such an All-American endeavor?  Let freedom ring!

If you are wondering if I am being sarcastic, I am. It is sadly, one of the few ways I know how to cope with such madness. However, it is not the only way I know. I also happen to know that although BP was enabled to write their own environmental review of the project, and already have nearly all of the required permits to move forward, there are still two obstacles in their way. A man named Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior for the White House. And us.

This is our chance people. We may have only one opportunity to voice ourselves and stand up to an empire that not only has control over the health of our oceans, but also the mental health of our elected officials. We must do everything in our powers to show Salazar that we are not a country who bows down to profit driven self-destruction. We must organize around this issue, and get everyone who shed a tear for our oceans and the lives lost on April 20th, 2010 to take action. Check this out : Stop BP’s Next Drilling Disaster. I have heard some amazing stories from folks about how they have collected hand-written letters to Salazar, and organized their own events around the issue. Some of our volunteers have collected more than 300 letters a piece!  How powerful is that?

Take to the streets! Take to the inter-web! Let’s stop this nightmare, and push for clean energy!
Who’s with me?!

For the Walrus,
Alex Holmes, Activist Network Fellow

What do all of these beautiful images have in common?

 They are all pictures from the Beaufort Sea near Prudhoe Bay, off of the Arctic coast of Alaska. This is a blue, pristine environment, a bio-diverse and untamed wilderness. The large Mackenzie River empties into the sea as do other smaller rivers feeding its fish and larger species nutrient rich water. It is an important habitat for Bow-head whales, Beluga whales, Ringed seals and a multitude of sea birds and is still relatively untouched by commercial traffic. The shoreline of the Beaufort Sea is the northern limit of the terrestrial range of the Polar bear in North America.

Perhaps this is why BP has decided to start their next drilling project about 5 miles offshore. Or perhaps it is because the sea ice is frozen for more than three-fourths of the year. Even during the summer, when the sea ice has melted or thinned, icebreakers must often accompany ships through the passage. Apparently BP’s ideal conditions to “drill baby, drill!”
Which is exactly what the London based company intends to do. Not one mile down, in tropic waters. That’s too easy! BP plans to drill two miles down into the sea bed, and the six to eight miles sideways to gain access to an oil reserve in Federal waters.

To their credit, it takes a huge amount of gall to do what they are trying to pull off. Not necessarily because it is admittedly BP’s “largest challenge to date”  in what the company itself claims is “some of the harshest weather on Earth”, but because they are doing this so blatantly, and boastfully, and so “legally”. BP plans to moveforward with this as soon as this fall.

“Wait just one minute, Alex! That’s not legal!! There is a six month moratorium on all new offshore drilling projects. This can’t be possible.”

Thank you for the well-timed interjection, alter-ego-super-environmentalist! In fact, it brings me to my next point. BP has skirted around the Federally implemented moratorium on offshore drilling by creating a gravel island that they will be drilling from. I will now take this time to announce the name of their project : “Liberty!”. Well, who am I to stop such an All-American endeavor?  Let freedom ring!

If you are wondering if I am being sarcastic, I am. It is sadly, one of the few ways I know how to cope with such madness. However, it is not the only way I know. I also happen to know that although BP was enabled to write their own environmental review of the project, and already have nearly all of the required permits to move forward, there are still two obstacles in their way. A man named Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior for the White House. And us.

This is our chance people. We may have only one opportunity to voice ourselves and stand up to an empire that not only has control over the health of our oceans, but also the mental health of our elected officials. We must do everything in our powers to show Salazar that we are not a country who bows down to profit driven self-destruction. We must organize around this issue, and get everyone who shed a tear for our oceans and the lives lost on April 20th, 2010 to take action. Check this out : Stop BP’s Next Drilling Disaster. I have heard some amazing stories from folks about how they have collected hand-written letters to Salazar, and organized their own events around the issue. Some of our volunteers have collected more than 300 letters a piece!  How powerful is that?

Take to the streets! Take to the inter-web! Let’s stop this nightmare, and push for clean energy!
Who’s with me?!

For the Walrus,
Alex Holmes, Activist Network Fellow

What do all of these beautiful images have in common? They are all pictures from the Beaufort Sea near Prudhoe Bay, off of the Arctic coast of Alaska. This is a blue, pristine environment, a bio-diverse and untamed wilderness. The large Mackenzie River empties into the sea as do other smaller rivers feeding its fish and larger species nutrient rich water. It is an important habitat for Bow-head whales, Beluga whales, Ringed seals and a multitude of sea birds and is still relatively untouched by commercial traffic. The shoreline of the Beaufort Sea is the northern limit of the terrestrial range of the Polar bear in North America.

Perhaps this is why BP has decided to start their next drilling project about 5 miles offshore. Or perhaps it is because the sea ice is frozen for more than three-fourths of the year. Even during the summer, when the sea ice has melted or thinned, icebreakers must often accompany ships through the passage. Apparently BP’s ideal conditions to “drill baby, drill!”
Which is exactly what the London based company intends to do. Not one mile down, in tropic waters. That’s too easy! BP plans to drill two miles down into the sea bed, and the six to eight miles sideways to gain access to an oil reserve in Federal waters.

To their credit, it takes a huge amount of gall to do what they are trying to pull off. Not necessarily because it is admittedly BP’s “largest challenge to date”  in what the company itself claims is “some of the harshest weather on Earth”, but because they are doing this so blatantly, and boastfully, and so “legally”. BP plans to moveforward with this as soon as this fall.

“Wait just one minute, Alex! That’s not legal!! There is a six month moratorium on all new offshore drilling projects. This can’t be possible.”

Thank you for the well-timed interjection, alter-ego-super-environmentalist! In fact, it brings me to my next point. BP has skirted around the Federally implemented moratorium on offshore drilling by creating a gravel island that they will be drilling from. I will now take this time to announce the name of their project : “Liberty!”. Well, who am I to stop such an All-American endeavor?  Let freedom ring!

If you are wondering if I am being sarcastic, I am. It is sadly, one of the few ways I know how to cope with such madness. However, it is not the only way I know. I also happen to know that although BP was enabled to write their own environmental review of the project, and already have nearly all of the required permits to move forward, there are still two obstacles in their way. A man named Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior for the White House. And us.

This is our chance people. We may have only one opportunity to voice ourselves and stand up to an empire that not only has control over the health of our oceans, but also the mental health of our elected officials. We must do everything in our powers to show Salazar that we are not a country who bows down to profit driven self-destruction. We must organize around this issue, and get everyone who shed a tear for our oceans and the lives lost on April 20th, 2010 to take action. Check this out : Stop BP’s Next Drilling Disaster. I have heard some amazing stories from folks about how they have collected hand-written letters to Salazar, and organized their own events around the issue. Some of our volunteers have collected more than 300 letters a piece!  How powerful is that?

Take to the streets! Take to the inter-web! Let’s stop this nightmare, and push for clean energy!
Who’s with me?!

For the Walrus,
Alex Holmes, Activist Network Fellow

What do all of these beautiful images have in common? They are all pictures from the Beaufort Sea near Prudhoe Bay, off of the Arctic coast of Alaska. This is a blue, pristine environment, a bio-diverse and untamed wilderness. The large Mackenzie River empties into the sea as do other smaller rivers feeding its fish and larger species nutrient rich water. It is an important habitat for Bow-head whales, Beluga whales, Ringed seals and a multitude of sea birds and is still relatively untouched by commercial traffic. The shoreline of the Beaufort Sea is the northern limit of the terrestrial range of the Polar bear in North America.

Perhaps this is why BP has decided to start their next drilling project about 5 miles offshore. Or perhaps it is because the sea ice is frozen for more than three-fourths of the year. Even during the summer, when the sea ice has melted or thinned, icebreakers must often accompany ships through the passage. Apparently BP’s ideal conditions to “drill baby, drill!”
Which is exactly what the London based company intends to do. Not one mile down, in tropic waters. That’s too easy! BP plans to drill two miles down into the sea bed, and the six to eight miles sideways to gain access to an oil reserve in Federal waters.

To their credit, it takes a huge amount of gall to do what they are trying to pull off. Not necessarily because it is admittedly BP’s “largest challenge to date”  in what the company itself claims is “some of the harshest weather on Earth”, but because they are doing this so blatantly, and boastfully, and so “legally”. BP plans to moveforward with this as soon as this fall.

“Wait just one minute, Alex! That’s not legal!! There is a six month moratorium on all new offshore drilling projects. This can’t be possible.”

Thank you for the well-timed interjection, alter-ego-super-environmentalist! In fact, it brings me to my next point. BP has skirted around the Federally implemented moratorium on offshore drilling by creating a gravel island that they will be drilling from. I will now take this time to announce the name of their project : “Liberty!”. Well, who am I to stop such an All-American endeavor?  Let freedom ring!

If you are wondering if I am being sarcastic, I am. It is sadly, one of the few ways I know how to cope with such madness. However, it is not the only way I know. I also happen to know that although BP was enabled to write their own environmental review of the project, and already have nearly all of the required permits to move forward, there are still two obstacles in their way. A man named Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior for the White House. And us.

This is our chance people. We may have only one opportunity to voice ourselves and stand up to an empire that not only has control over the health of our oceans, but also the mental health of our elected officials. We must do everything in our powers to show Salazar that we are not a country who bows down to profit driven self-destruction. We must organize around this issue, and get everyone who shed a tear for our oceans and the lives lost on April 20th, 2010 to take action. Check this out : Stop BP’s Next Drilling Disaster. I have heard some amazing stories from folks about how they have collected hand-written letters to Salazar, and organized their own events around the issue. Some of our volunteers have collected more than 300 letters a piece!  How powerful is that?

Take to the streets! Take to the inter-web! Let’s stop this nightmare, and push for clean energy!
Who’s with me?!

For the Walrus,
Alex Holmes, Activist Network Fellow